Monday, July 27, 2009

Food Lion, Target and Kroger- oops, Walgreens too

I am really disappointed in Kroger. When it comes to playing the advertising game, no one is better than Kroger. Their ads are already notorious for saying things like "MEGA EVENT! Buy 10 and get $5 off!!" Prices are listed. And in teensy print: "prices already reflect discount". So here you are thinking you're getting an awesome deal...and it's really just an ok deal.

Well with this new P&G deal going on this week, it's even worse! Instead of buying the 4 items required to get your $4 off P&G, you have to actually buy $4 more of something else in the same order to get the $4 off the P&G products. It is SO confusing! I neglected to read the teensy print (which by the way, didn't even make it onto the posters around the store), and so my $4 didn't come off. The CSR and I went rounds trying to figure out what happened, and when we realized what happened, he didn't know how to fix it. I said, what if I go get $4 of something and then we discount it $4? So I went to grab something and got some oatmeal (the most expensive oatmeal I've ever bought. $4.35 for a box!) and went back up to the CS desk. He was really busy, so he just opened the register and handed me $4 in cash. Of course, now I have this oatmeal, so I went over to the self-register and purchased the oatmeal. So I didn't come out too great. Boo. Unhappy with Kroger. The only way to make a good deal out of this P&G thing is to "buy" stuff that you have free coupons for, which the $4 will apply to, then use your coupons so that the $4 actually does show up as $ off the P&G items, as they claim it is. The way the ad reads, it really is false advertising.

ARGH!

Kroger
1 Herbal Essences Shampoo 2.99
$1/1 mq, $1/1 P&G ecoupon= $.99
1 Herbal Essences Hairspray 2.99
Free wyb Shampoo mq = Free
2 Aussie Shampoo/Conditioner 2.99/ea
$2/2 Aussie products mq, $2/1 P&G ecoupon= $1.98/2
Total tax: $1.14
Total oop: $4.11
Total savings: $10.79 (62%)

Went to CS and was given $4 back, which I applied to
1 Quaker Oatmeal $4.25
Total oop:$4.59
-$4 refund
Total oop: $.59

Food Lion

1 pint blueberries 3.99/1.99 MVP
$2/$5 produce FLip (in conjunction with peaches, below)= Free
1 lb peaches 1.99/.99 MVP (I bought a little over a pound)
$1/1 Guiding Stars FLip = Free
1 Home360 Aluminum Foil 1.35/.99 MVP
$1/1 Home360 product FLip = -$.01
1 Home360 Travel pack Wipes 1.62
$1.50/1 Home360 product FLip = $.12
Total non-food tax: $.18
Total oop: $.46

Target
8 Smart Ones Entrees $1.68 (clearance)
$1/1 Target printableq, $2/4 mq from Nothing Goes to Waist Booklet = $.18/ea
5 Softsoap Ensembles
$1/1 ipq, $1/1 mq from RIB (or All You?), $2/1 Target printable= Free
Total food tax: $.44
Total non-food tax: $.48
Total oop: $2.36
Total savings: $48.56 (96%)


Walgreens
3 Starbucks bottles Frappuchinos $1.25/ea w in-ad q
$1/1 mq= $.25/ea
1 Hunts tomato sauce $.39 w/in-ad q
$1 rr
Total tax: $.33
Total oop: $.47
Total savings: $7.42

7 comments:

  1. I agree with you about Kroger. I haven't done the P&G event, but I find it much harder to save big there. I just usually go by a couple of times per month and pick up the free things!

    How often do you go shopping each week?

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  2. It really depends on how great the sales are and I try to combine my trips out (and gauge it on how tired and cranky my kids are). If I have four or five stops to make, and my kids are behaving, I get it all done at once. Generally Kroger, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Target and Food Lion. They don't all always have good deals, so I base it on that. I try to do as much as I can in one trip so I don't have to go back out, but with a 4 year old and an 8 month old, that doesn't always happen. Like yesterday, I wanted to go to Food Lion twice to get several pints of blueberries, but my son fell asleep on the way home so we just went home. And sometimes, it is just not in the cards, so I just leave the kids with their dad at night or on a Saturday and go by myself. :)

    This past couple of weeks Food Lion has had really great FLips for produce, so I have been stopping by there every time I go out (it's right up the street, and I pass by it, so it's not out of the way at all).

    Then I go to Nashville once a week for Publix (and CVS if the deals are decent).

    I rarely make special trips out though. I conserve my gas and always go places when I am already in the area. My daughter has gymnastics twice a week, and the Walgreens and Target (and the good Rite Aid) are that direction, so if I need to go there, I go while I'm already in the area and out of the house.

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  3. oh and the Food Lion is in the same strip as the KMart, so if I want to go to KMart, I drop in while I am at Food Lion. (but that rarely happens)

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  4. I agree, I think it's false advertising, too. It shows the prices in the ad the same as it did for the Mega Sale, when the discount came off the item. That's crazy they show you save $4 off P&G products in the ad, but really you get it off other items.

    A game is a game, but that one shouldn't be allowed.

    I bet the Kroger employees are having a bad time with it, too!

    Is your Target a SuperTarget, or no?
    I noticed they have the $1/1pound apples IP q again. I think I bought 2 at a time last time and got them free or nearly.

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  5. The CSR was very confused. As was I. ugh. I feel like calling and complaining to their customer service number, but I can't decide if it's worth it.

    No SuperTarget anywhere near me. :( I will take that ip to Publix though!

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  6. took me awhile to figure out the kroger mess too! but there is some other free stuff this week like listerine pocket packs, and crest toothpaste and oral b tooth brushes that i threw in as my "purchases after the p and g promo" ridiculous to jump through this hoop because after the promo came off, i then used coupons to get everything else for free! i may squeeze in one more promo trip but after using up the esaver q's it just isn't as good of a deal anymore- even if it wasn't a headache already!

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